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Who grinned at life in empty joy?
“I knew a simple soldier boy Who grinned at life in empty joy, Slept soundly through the lonesome dark, And whistled early with the lark. In winter trenches, cowed and glum, With crumps and lice and lack of rum, He put a bullet through his brain.
Who cheer when soldier lads march by?
No one spoke of him again. You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye Who cheer when soldier lads march by, Sneak home and pray you’ll never know The hell where youth and laughter go.
What did Siegfried Sassoon say about the effects of trench warfare?
Avoiding the sentimentality and jingoism of many war poets, Sassoon wrote of the horror and brutality of trench warfare and contemptuously satirized generals, politicians, and churchmen for their incompetence and blind support of the war.
What does whistled early with the lark mean?
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark, And whistled early with the lark. The young boy’s pre-war naivety is developed in these lines, with the sibilance of ‘slept soundly’. This represents the smooth and effortless nights he had that were not filled with the sound of bombs, gunfire, shells etc.
What was the purpose of the poem Suicide in the Trenches?
Tragically, the horrific reality of war drives him to commit suicide in the trenches. The poem then criticizes the public back at home, which it claims encourages young men to give up their lives without fully acknowledging the terrors that await “simple soldier boy[s].”
What was life in trenches?
Trench life involved long periods of boredom mixed with brief periods of terror. The threat of death kept soldiers constantly on edge, while poor living conditions and a lack of sleep wore away at their health and stamina.
What is Siegfried Sassoon’s most famous poem?
‘The Dug-Out’ is perhaps my favourite of all of Sassoon’s poetry and one which stands out to me against his others, in all its confusion and sorrow. It was written in August 1918, after he was accidentally wounded by a fellow British soldier and discharged from active service.
What is the stanza structure of Suicide in the Trenches?
‘Suicide in the Trenches is written in three quatrains of iambic tetrameter. The metrical regularity of the poem is designed to mimic the sound of marching. It also creates a sense of endlessness and despair, aligned with the protagonist’s state of mind.
What does lonesome dark mean?
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark – this is where the tone is different. This line foreshadows the darkness that war will bring the soldiers It could foreshadow death, or the fact that he will never sleep soundly again.
What are the key ideas of Suicide in the Trenches?
‘Suicide in the Trenches’ was published in 1918 in Sassoon’s collection, ‘ Counter-Attack and Other Poems. ‘ It explores the soul-destroying psychological effects of the War through the tale of a ‘simple soldier boy’ who took his own life.
How did soldiers feel in the trenches?
On the Western Front, the war was fought by soldiers in trenches. Trenches were long, narrow ditches dug into the ground where soldiers lived. They were very muddy, uncomfortable and the toilets overflowed. These conditions caused some soldiers to develop a problem called trench foot.
What poetic devices are used in Suicide in the Trenches?
Alliteration. “Suicide in the Trenches” uses alliteration throughout its three stanzas, lending the poem a musical, sing-song quality that contrasts with the darkness of its subject. The first example of alliteration is in line 1: “simple soldier boy.” The two /s/ sounds give the phrase a simple, memorable quality.